Tag: Boston

I recently went for a quick work trip to Boston (or “Bawston”). It’s a cool place, one that I’ll definitely have to return to for a proper vacation. Admittedly I didn’t do a lot of planning in advance, save for knowing that I wanted to wander Harvard and pretend that I was a student (someone stopped to ask me for directions and I almost hugged them).

After a restful sleep at an adorable Airbnb and a solid jog around University of Massachusetts, I gave myself the day to wander the city without a set destination in mind. While I’m not a massive baseball fan I still felt the pull of Fenway and wanted to see the Green Monster up close, so I started the morning with a tour of the historic baseball stadium. As I waited for the tour to start, I noticed a number of concessions advertising salads featuring “Fenway kale”. Used to hot dogs and nachos when I hit a Jays game, this made me smile.

Flash forward to the halfway point of the tour when our guide stopped us in front of this:

There is a rooftop garden at Fenway!! Be still my heart. According to the guide, the garden’s crops change seasonally but they grow herbs and veggies such as cucumbers, tomatoes, basil, kale, lettuce, peas, broccoli, cilantro, mint and rosemary. The garden provides the concessions at the Park with home-grown goodies and is also used as an educational facility for local students.

I would be lying if I said this wasn’t one of my favourite parts of the tour (hold your cries of outrage for a second – my favourite moment was in fact baseball-related). But I totally dig this – turning an otherwise unused space into a beautiful garden for the community to enjoy. Plus kale! Well done, Fenway.

My favourite part of the tour was when our guide pointed out the giant CITGO sign that’s one of the most identifiable landmarks in Boston. Joe Carter and the Blue Jays would consistently hammer the Red Sox, and a sports writer reportedly asked Carter why he always seemed to hit homers in the direction of the sign. His response was that he read the sign as “C-it-go”, and felt the need to follow the sign’s instructions and send the ball packing. As the only Torontonian on the tour, I appreciated this little nugget.